Organizing on the Cheap

There are big bucks that can be spent organizing a kitchen

Lazy susans, pan dividers, spice rack, slim toaster, shelving, stools, baskets, hooks, collapsable containers…..you get the idea.

BUT I have a freebie that is proving to be great for space-saving storage!

Sam’s Club parmesan cheese.

Yep, Sam’s Club parmesan cheese is the key to my space-saving tip.  That and orange oil.

Orange oil is amazing stuff for another post!  And it is worth every penny.  I’ve had mine for years and bought it from a garden supply store in Texas.  But you can buy it here from Amazon if you can’t find it locally.

For the containers, let me explain that I sorta have issues with throwing containers away that I think might be useful *someday*.  I have a bunch of similar sized containers from buying real parmesan, cashews, & cocoa almonds over the years.

Years of saving those plastic containers look to have worked out in my favor though.

The original labels are stuck on in a heavy-duty sorta way!  So you need to get those off.

15 of the 18 containers I had, had the labels.  (I told you I have issues)  And those labels were driving my OCD bonkers.

So while my mom was here the other day I conned her into asked her to help me get the labels off.  And she did!

What a chore!

There are all sorts of ways to remove the pesky labels, which you can find on Google.

Here’s our method.   Because you know, we’re pros and all.

1. Soak labeled side in warm water.
2. Peel off as much paper as you can with a razor or by scraping with your nail or a scrub brush.
3. Use orange oil and a rag to rub the remaining stubborn glue off.
4. Wash the oil off with soapy water.

Not rocket science by any means, but it worked.

I know it’s a process.  But since they were the space-saving square shape and repurposed I couldn’t help myself.

And they were free.

I can fit 9 of these in one drawer with a very minute amount of unused space.

When life settles down, I’ll print these labels that I made.

[gview file=”https://thenewlighterlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Canister-Labels.pdf”]

I modified the ones found here and plan to mod podge them to the lids.

I could have just used that really cool file from Worldlabel, but I really don’t want to have to buy special label paper, I wanted them larger and wanted them to all be the same design.

You know…OCD.